Carbon reduction supported by dairy experts

Speakers at Dairy UK’s carbon and farming conference held this week at Sixways Stadium in Worcester repeatedly reaffirmed that carbon reduction equated to improving efficiency.

Conference co-Chairman Roger Evans said: "We’re talking about eliminating waste and doing things more efficiently. The first to start tackling it will have a competitive advantage’.

The conference, which was attended by more than 100 farmers and farm advisors from across the UK, was the fourth in a series of annual environment conferences organised by Dairy UK, and was sponsored for the first time by DairyCo.

Agricultural Manager Emma Jones of Tesco left delegates in no doubt that shoppers were behind the drive for carbon reduction. "Consumers want to be more sustainable, which means that carbon labeling on foods is not going to go away," she said.

Pierre Gerber, the author of a recent report on the carbon footprint of world dairy farming for the Food and Agriculture Organisation, pointed out that dairy farmers in Western Europe had some of the lowest carbon footprints in the world.

Dairy UK Director General Jim Begg said: "This was a well attended event that shows how serious farmers are about tackling carbon emissions. It is part of Dairy UK’s role to raise awareness of these sorts of issues and help to find solutions."